


Unmasked

by Sineala



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Avengers Vol. 4 (2010), Cap-Ironman Bingo, Community: cap_ironman, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, News Media, Secret Identity, Television
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 12:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9490778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sineala/pseuds/Sineala
Summary: All the rifts of the Civil War have been healed, everyone is alive again, and the Avengers can finally relax... and party! It's time for a marathon viewing of the Avengers TV show! Of course, Tony doesn't remember what happened in any of the episodes that aired while he was the director of SHIELD, but he's positive he wouldn't have approved anything... inappropriate. He absolutely wouldn't have. As it turns out, Tony shouldn't think so highly of himself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my Cap-IM Bingo square "alter ego." It is set towards the end of Avengers v4, after Jan comes back. I was aiming for fluff and landed squarely in angst. Whoops.
> 
> Also if you feel secondhand embarrassment easily, you may want to avoid this. Sorry.
> 
> Thanks to magicasen for beta.

"I have no idea," Steve said, "why I let you talk me into this."

Tony considered that statement to be patently ridiculous, but he was willing to acknowledge that maybe Steve didn't see the appeal of his own ass. It was probably because he couldn't actually see his own ass, mirrors notwithstanding, but still -- the tight blue leather was doing wonderful things for him. Tony was definitely an objective judge.

Of course, he wasn't ever actually going to tell Steve about his admiration of Steve's ass, because that wasn't how their relationship worked. Steve didn't need to know. Steve wasn't going to know. Whatever.

Tony beamed. "You know you love me. And also everyone else we knew vetoed the Come As You Were party."

It had sounded like a great idea to Tony -- everyone dressing in their most outrageous old costumes -- but this was possibly because he had never regretted a single model of armor, even the one with the nose. Natasha had said no way was she wearing fishnets, Carol had said they were all twitchy about her old costume after the whole Osborn-and-Moonstone thing -- Tony prodded at the gap in his memory, but very little information was forthcoming -- and no one had exactly said, but it had been very heavily intimated that Bucky was going to shoot someone if anyone made him put on the tights. Pretty much everyone, down the line, had given similar excuses.

But Tony knew he could persuade one person to dress up for him -- because Steve would wear damn near anything if Tony asked him, and they both knew it -- and Tony's only regret about the current situation was that he didn't know where the Nomad outfit had ended up after the last time they'd all moved. So Tony had gone for a slightly different theme.

Still, this was pretty good for second place.

The Captain America costume was a stage costume -- flimsy, tight, and glittery. Just the way Tony liked it. The one they'd used for the TV series had more padding, of course, to give the illusion of more muscle, but the prototype he'd done for the studio, once upon a time, had been built for Steve. And, man, did Steve ever fill it out nicely. It was a shame his real uniform had to have more armoring.

Steve glanced down at himself and held out his arm, turning it this way and that in the light. He sparkled. "I didn't even know you'd designed this. Or had any input at all."

"I am very possessive about my licensing rights. I'm a hands-on kind of guy," Tony said, resisting the impulse to slap Steve's ass as he walked by, because that was another thing that their actual relationship did not include. "Come on. I want to see you punch Hitler."

"I _didn't_ ," Steve said, the beginning of the old complaint, the one that started _that was only a comic book cover_ and was going to end _I met him with the Invaders but we were all tied up and I never got the chance_ , and then he shut his mouth and smiled instead. Tony grabbed his arm, checked himself out in Steve's mirror as they passed it -- old-school mustache, old-school armor, looking sharp -- and dragged Steve out into the hall, toward where the party was, if not in full swing yet, at least beginning to swing.

Showtime.

* * *

One of the weirder things about being a superhero was the celebrity. The fame of it all. That wasn't quite true: it had been weird, once, but like so many other things about their lives, like how an ordinary week might involve Galactus trying to eat the planet -- well, eventually it all flattened down into a baseline normal with occasional spikes of giant robots.

Tony had grown up rich, of course, grown up with fame, but it had been easy to see, very early on, that the fame he got from being CEO of what at the time had been Stark Industries was going to be very, very different from the fame he got from being Iron Man. Or even the fame he got from being plain old Tony Stark, Avengers benefactor.

For one thing, small children had never wanted to hug Tony Stark, CEO.

He did his job, the same way everyone else did. They saved the world. And then somehow stories sprung up around them. Myths took form in their wake. Even in the early days, everyone wanted to talk about the Avengers -- and back when they'd been so new that they had hardly done anything, the world just wanted to make feats up. They wanted the Avengers to save them from it all, to be their heroes always.

Way back when, of course, there had been those Cap comics. But the merchandising possibilities had only expanded as superheroes became more numerous: toys, clothes, every item of consumer goods ever, all branded with an Avengers A. Tony did, in fact, control the licensing. But it was more than just objects. It was stories. People wanted to tell new stories about them.

So, of course, there was an Avengers television show.

He'd kept an eye on it over the years. It was how he'd met Henry Hellrung, his fictional counterpart. He'd had script approval for the first season, until his life got much too busy and he decided to just assume they were still doing a good job.

But even in his weird life, he thought it was just a little bit much to sit down and watch a TV show about his own life. Unless the entire team did it. At once.

Hence, the party.

Someone -- Tony suspected Clint -- had already set the first episode playing, and the Tower's common area was full of chattering Avengers, about half of them paying attention to the TV, and the other half gossiping away. There was room for him and Steve on one of the couches, and Tony sank down into the cushions. Steve, as usual, perched next to him.

Clint passed him the popcorn bowl. "We can go back if you want," Clint said, his mouth full of popcorn. "You missed the beginning."

Tony grinned. "It's okay. I was there."

Clint rolled his eyes. "We _know_."

On screen, the Avengers were gathered around an unconscious Captain America, his uniform ripped. He was definitely not as attractive as Steve. Tony watched as events played out in a strange simulacrum of reality: Cap came up confused and swinging and was quickly calmed. And the same words were spoken, the ones they all remembered from long ago. Iron Man's eyes met Captain America's, and Iron Man was the first to speak.

"You know," Steve said, thoughtfully, with a pleased smile on his face, "this is surprisingly accurate. I was expecting a lot worse."

Steve usually didn't like watching his own TV shows. Tony didn't blame him. There had been a lot of bad Cap movies made while he was frozen. He wasn't sure Steve had even seen an episode of this one all the way through.

"You can blame that on me," Tony said. "I... insisted this part had to be right. It had to be real."

Luckily, Steve was still engrossed in the show, so he wasn't looking at Tony, which was good, because Tony wasn't about to explain the vast amount of _feelings_ he had about that day. His life had changed when he'd become Iron Man. Again, when they'd founded the Avengers. And again, when they'd discovered Steve. Tony had always thought that the last of those three had the greatest effect. For all that they'd been a team before they'd found Captain America, somehow it hadn't felt like it until that day. Everything had crystallized around that one moment. It was then that they'd really become Avengers, when they'd found the man who had known how to lead them. Even now, when he thought about it, there was a hot tangle of pride and happiness. They'd all been so young, and it had been so long ago, but even now he remembered knowing, with all his futurist's certainty, that his life was going to be better with Cap in it. And he'd been right.

It wasn't like they hadn't had their disagreements -- and the war Tony could no longer remember -- but Tony wouldn't have traded his friendship with Steve for anything.

Steve glanced away from the screen, and their eyes met.

Tony swallowed hard, because the way Steve was looking at him. It was like he knew. It was like he could see right into his heart.

And then Steve smiled. "I'm glad. Thank you."

But if Steve knew, he wasn't going to say anything. He didn't say anything.

The scene changed on the television, and the moment was broken as Steve squinted at their counterparts in confusion. "Well," he said. "There's something that didn't happen, huh?"

The episode had cut to Iron Man informing Tony Stark that Captain America had been found. Henry Hellrung was pacing an office, phone in hand, and there was a close-up on his disbelieving, excited face. "Captain America is alive?" Henry asked, awestruck.

Tony snorted at the television. "I couldn't exactly tell them why that hadn't happened, could I?"

They'd had another actor playing Iron Man, of course; Henry had only been playing Tony.

"You should have," Clint said. "That would have been great. Saved us all some trouble."

"I told you _eventually_ ," Tony retorted.

Among the team, Steve had found out first; Tony was never going to forget how the Molecule Man had stripped him out of his armor. The rest of the team had found out piecemeal over the years, though Clint had been one of the first after that first team. The public, of course, hadn't found until a few years ago, just before he'd become Secretary of Defense. He'd walked that back in the wake of Rumiko's death, and he'd--

Well, that was one of those things he just didn't remember. He poked at his memory again. Nothing.

Apparently he'd told the public again during the SHRA mess. They'd known who he was when he was the director of SHIELD, later on. Carol had told him so. He'd watched the footage of his own press conference. _My name is Tony Stark and I am an alcoholic_ , he'd said, as he'd pulled the helmet off, unmasking on live television.

He was never going to remember that.

Clint snagged the popcorn from Steve and stuffed a handful in his mouth. "He looks like you. More like you than the rest of 'em look like the rest of us. I think you lucked out."

"Eh," Tony said. "Henry's prettier than me."

"No, he's not," Steve said, absently, gaze still on the TV, and then he turned and blinked as Clint stared at him, and Tony's heart pounded. "What? Am I not allowed to have an opinion, Hawkeye?"

Clint held up his hands. "I'm staying out of this."

Times like these, Tony almost thought Steve liked him back. But, then, he was _Steve_ , and Steve was the kind of guy who would stand up for the idea that no one's masculinity should be so fragile that they couldn't admit another guy was good-looking. That was all it was. That had to be all it was.

Change the subject, move on, keep going. It had worked for ten years. It was going to keep working.

"Hey, come on," Tony said. "When this is over, let's watch the one where you show up, Clint."

"Nice," Clint said, diving for the remote. "Can we skip ahead to the Golden Archer one? I want to see myself wearing that skirt."

So they watched that one next; Tony got up and made the rounds of the party, and when he came back, Carol was in his seat, demolishing the remains of the popcorn and watching her own encounter with the Psyche-Magnetron.

"Ooh," Jan said, wandering over to them. "That's a good one."

Carol was grinning. "Look at me go!"

On the screen, Ms. Marvel streaked through the sky.

They were approaching the more recent episodes. Tony almost winced as the opening credits came on for the new season: the Avengers on screen were friends, friends always, fighting evil... and that had been the year Wanda had destroyed the mansion, and the team had broken apart. But here, on screen, it was if that had never happened. The show had doubled down on nostalgia even as in reality the Avengers had split.

"My turn to pick," Jan said, and she leaned over the back of the couch and took the remote away from Carol. "If we're allowed to skip even more, I say we watch the one where we find out who Iron Man is. I always wondered how that went down."

Huh. Tony had never thought about it before, but he supposed the show would have had to do something after the world had found out his secret identity; they couldn't very well have gone on pretending that Tony Stark and Iron Man were two different people.

He wondered what he'd thought of the episode at the time they'd aired it. Judging by where they were in the series, it had been made after the SHRA, after Steve died, while he was the director of SHIELD -- so, of course, he didn't remember ever hearing about it. He probably hadn't even watched it.

"Sure," Carol said, but she sounded more than a little wary, and her gaze slid over to Tony, like she was appealing to him. "Only if Cap and Shellhead here are okay with it, though. I would have thought it wasn't really appropriate--" She paused and regrouped. "I mean, I suppose it's something we can watch. If you want. If the two of you don't object."

They'd probably asked an Avenger for all the details and then fictionalized that Molecule Man mission. That was all right by him. Tony could handle watching his fictional counterpart run around in his underwear.

"No, it's fine," Tony said.

Carol looked dubious. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

Carol glanced at Steve. "Cap?"

Steve shrugged. "I'll watch anything."

"See?" Tony said. "It's fine. Shove over, you two."

Carol scooted over to give him his place back, and Tony climbed over the back of the couch. He was mostly squashed between Steve and Carol now, but neither of them seemed to mind, so he stayed.

Steve was pressed up against him; if Tony hadn't been in armor, he would have been able to feel him.

He wasn't going to think about that.

Jan selected the first part of the episode "Unmasked" -- apparently this one had been some kind of special TV event, a two-parter -- and Tony blinked as Henry Hellrung came up in the credits.

"I thought he'd left the show," Steve said, which was what Tony had been about to ask, so he was glad Steve had stepped up first. Henry hadn't played him in a long time, he thought; it had all been so long ago that Henry had been his drinking buddy rather than his AA sponsor.

They'd recast the role after Henry's departure, of course. The last two episodes Carol and Clint had put on had had someone else playing Tony. Privately, Tony thought he wasn't nearly as good as Henry had been.

"He had," Carol said. "We were running the Fifty-State Initiative. He'd just joined the Order, as Anthem. He was pretty busy, at the time. But--" she nudged Tony-- "Shellhead here wanted him back for this one."

Was he supposed to remember that? It was clearly something Carol expected him to have caught up on. He nodded and smiled.

So he sat back, and he let the episode unfold.

It wasn't the Molecule Man.

They'd made up some new villain, some completely fictional villain, and the team was called to assemble. Henry Hellrung -- now with goatee, huh, okay, he really did look like Tony, like that -- had been called away from his lab, where he was busy making LMDs of himself. He put aside the last LMD and started to suit up.

Clever. That was how they were going to explain how they'd portrayed Tony Stark and Iron Man as two different people. LMDs, other people in the suit -- all the things he'd actually done. It was like they'd asked him.

Maybe they had asked him.

The team on screen was close, and Tony wanted to wince, seeing the way Captain America and Iron Man were looking at each other. The way they kept brushing up against each other. The way the glances went on a little too long. It felt almost too real.

Well, he supposed this was just what you could expect when a TV show was portraying the two of you as best friends forever, friends who had never fought.

The villain's base turned out to be underground tunnels in a huge lair in New Jersey -- much like the Molecule Man, minus the name -- and they split up to investigate. It was Iron Man, Cap, Ms. Marvel, Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch. Huh. Tony liked the thought of that roster, and made a mental note to consider it for later.

And then they split up.

"Idiots," Clint said at the screen. "Cap, how could you not send us out in pairs, at least?"

"I had nothing to do with this," Steve said, with a laugh. "Also, I was dead at the time."

"You just watch," Tony said. "I'm sure something horrible is going to happen to one of us. And then Cap will regret the error of his ways and have to save whoever it is."

Him, probably. And that would lead to his identity being revealed. And that would be the end of part one of two, a nice cliffhanger. He had watched a television show before, after all.

"Uh, Tony?" Carol asked, concern coloring her voice. "Don't you know-- did no one tell you what this episode was about?"

"Shh," Tony said, only sort of listening to Carol. "I want to see."

The show cut to Iron Man, making his way through the tunnels, which went from all rock to metal-walled, a base with doors and rooms. And in the first room, he was immobilized and then knocked out by the intruder control system, a massive electrical shock.

Tony winced as Iron Man fell over. Okay, maybe he could see why his teammates were concerned about him. It was surprisingly painful to watch.

"Iron Man," Captain America said, "report!" 

There was no reply.

Captain America was running through the tunnels. When he reached Iron Man's last known position, there was a close up on his face, and even with the cowl, it was clear that the actor was portraying this as incredible anguish. Like he'd lost someone he really, deeply cared for.

Tony nudged Steve, next to him, with his armored elbow. "Tell me the truth. You make that face every time I get hurt, don't you?"

Steve scowled. He looked like... like he was thinking about all the times something bad really had happened to Tony. "You think this kind of thing is funny?" He sighed. "Of course I care about you, Tony. You know that."

"Maybe we should turn this off," Carol said. "Maybe we should turn this off right now."

"No, no," Tony said, "it's almost over."

It was weird; he'd thought that would have been the cliffhanger. He wondered what they were planning. Probably the reveal of his identity.

On screen, Captain America ran through the tunnels, found the base, wrenched the door open, and found Iron Man.

"He's not breathing!" Captain America declared, although Tony wasn't really sure how he was supposed to be able to tell that when Iron Man had the suit on. Captain America's face was twisted with regret. This was really good acting. "I'm sorry, Shellhead," he said, softly. "I know you didn't want me to know. But I have to save your life."

Tony kind of wished it had really happened like this.

Captain America removed Iron Man's helmet, revealing Tony Stark underneath. The camera lingered on Henry Hellrung's still face. Captain America brushed a gloved hand over his face; it seemed like his fingers lingered on the other man's cheek.

"Tony?" Captain America said, wonderingly. Like it was a dream come true. "Tony, you're Iron Man?"

The unconscious Tony Stark, of course, said nothing.

"I have to save you," Captain America said, which was a Cap line if Tony had ever heard one. And then he pulled off the chestplate of the armor too, and he leaned in.

Huh, okay. CPR. Fair enough. Tony squinted. There was a close-up of Captain America's mouth on his, filmed almost as if it were a kiss. Well, that was an interesting directorial choice, all right.

Surely it was the end of the episode now? Apparently not.

On screen, Tony Stark opened his eyes. His gauntleted hand went to his face. His expression was one of dawning horror, as he realized his secrets were revealed. Henry was an excellent actor, Tony thought. No wonder he'd wanted him back.

"Cap?" Tony Stark said. "You-- you saved me."

"Yes," Captain America said, and there was something soft and amazed in his eyes. "And you're Iron Man. All these years. I can't believe it."

"I'll leave the team," Tony Stark offered, despondently, and geez, that sure sounded like him.

"Why would I want you to leave the team?"

"I've kept secrets from you."

"I don't care," Captain America said, fiercely. "I don't care about that. I care about _you_."

Tony tried to imagine Steve saying that. Steve had just said he cared about him, hadn't he? But he hadn't said it like that. Of course he'd never said it like that.

"I'm still keeping secrets from you, Steve." Henry's eyes were wide, and he had infused his voice with something desperate, something terrified. Tony wondered what the hell they were on about. He hadn't been keeping any other secrets from Steve. Well, other than the obvious.

"You don't have to," Captain America said. "Whatever it is, Tony, I can handle it. Don't run from me."

"You want to know?" The statement was bitter. "Fine."

On screen, Tony Stark pushed himself upright in his ruined armor. And then he lunged for Captain America, wrapped his arms around him, and kissed him, hard.

Oh God.

Tony wondered if his heart was about to stop.

Next to him, Steve went very, very still, and no force on Earth could compel Tony to look at him.

The kiss ended, and the characters stared at each other for the span of a shocked breath. And then Captain America leaned in and kissed Tony Stark right back.

The screen faded to black. TO BE CONTINUED, it read.

"What," Tony said. His voice was faint, too faint, and he wondered if he was going to pass out. The world was gray; his ears roared. He couldn't think of anything to say.

He didn't think Steve had even taken a breath. He still couldn't bring himself to look at him.

"That didn't happen," Tony managed to say. "That-- that never happened."

Except in his mind. Over and over again. It was as if someone had taken his daydreams and given them form: Captain America loved him back. But of course, Steve didn't. Not like that. Never like that.

"That's what I was _trying_ to tell you," Carol said to Jan, and her tone was somewhere between horror and exasperation. "That's what this episode was about, remember?"

"No, I don't remember," Jan said. Her face was much paler than it ought to be. "I was _dead_ , remember? I'd just heard they'd made an episode where we found out who Iron Man was. I didn't know it was like this!"

Tony started to laugh, a horrible choking sound, and he found he couldn't stop. Oh, God. Steve had been dead and Jan had been dead and whatever Tony had known about this, he'd forgotten. Somehow they'd made this. Had they run it by him? What the hell had he thought about it?

"Oh, God," Tony said. He felt tears run down his face. "I let them make this?"

"Tony," Carol said, her voice deadly serious, "this was your idea."

Everything in Tony froze up, and he thought for half a second it was the old suit before he realized it was him. God. He'd done this. He'd parted with the last and most damning of his secrets. He'd probably thought he'd been safe, he'd probably thought it wouldn't matter, because Steve had been dead.

He should have remembered that the Avengers always come back.

Steve knew. Steve was sitting next to him, and Steve _knew_. Steve knew everything, now.

He finally dared a glance at Steve.

Steve was perfectly still, staring straight ahead, at the blank screen. Steve's face, too, was absolutely blank.

He'd done it. He'd ruined everything.

"Excuse me," Tony choked out. "I have to go."

He thought he heard Steve saying his name as he pushed himself off the couch, as he ran, but he was already out the door.

* * *

The episode had aired nearly a year ago. Just before Steve had come back to life. Just before Tony had lost his mind. 

Tony sat on his bed, laptop in his lap, tabs of search results spread out before him -- a search he clearly ought to have done before proposing a viewing party -- and all he could think was _the entire world has known for a year that I'm in love with Steve, and no one told either of us_.

The reviews had been good, apparently; the Cap/Iron Man relationship had continued on even into the current season. There'd been controversy in the press at the beginning. Of course. And Tony had finally come out, dear God. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. Apparently this was what it took to make him come out. And he hadn't even known.

He hated watching interviews of himself from that lost year, but this one -- he figured he'd better. So he sighed, clicked on the YouTube link, and scrubbed forward until he found himself.

Anyone who didn't know Tony well wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary in his appearance. He was well-dressed, suit and tie, and there was a perfect thousand-watt smile for the press as he strode across the stage, shook the late night talk show host's hand, and sat down. But then there was a close-up of his face and... there was nothing. His face was hollow, his eyes full of a dark and endless grief. Steve was gone, and it was like he'd taken Tony with him too, because there was nothing left in Tony's eyes. He was a dead man walking.

"Glad to have you with us on the show, Mr. Stark," the host said.

"Happy to be here," said a man who was clearly never going to be able to feel anything resembling happiness again.

"So, Tony -- can I call you Tony? Tony, you've got the whole world talking about last night's Avengers episode. You and Captain America. Now, the question on everyone's lips, of course--"

"You want to know if we were lovers." In what violated every single PR rule Tony had ever internalized, he was now interrupting the host. Tony's voice was rough, hoarse, cutting through every bit of politeness, baring himself for the world because he no longer had anything worth hiding. "You were probably going to make a joke," he said. "You were going to hint coyly at the rumors about my sexuality. You were going to put up one of those blurry photos where I was sixteen and drunk off my ass and someone with a telephoto lens got a shot of me with Tiberius Stone's tongue down my throat. I can save you the trouble. I'm bisexual. I'm also a goddamn coward." On screen, Tony laughed, an aching, bitter noise.

There followed at least five seconds of dead silence -- including from the live studio audience -- while the host tried to figure out how to get back on script. Tony could see him glancing over at the camera. The teleprompter wasn't going to help him now.

"So you and Captain America...?" the host ventured, and Tony would have said he was a braver man than Tony was except for the part where Tony had just _come out on fucking live television, oh God_.

On screen, Tony smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "No," he said, very quietly. "We weren't. Was I in love with him? Yes. Did I ever tell him? No. Was he in love with me? I don't know. Probably not. Steve wasn't real big on secrets, you see. If he'd had feelings for me, he'd have said something."

The host was now desperately rifling through cue cards. "So this storyline on the show... you approved it?"

"Mmm-hmm." Tony nodded. "My idea, actually."

"Don't you think," the host asked, "that it might be disrespectful to a national icon? Complaints from family-values groups have been--"

There was anger in Tony's eyes now, the only emotion Tony had seen on his own face in the entire interview. "Look. Steve Rogers is dead. He's not coming back. He doesn't get a vote, no -- but you don't get to vote for him." His mouth twisted in something that was meant to be a smile. "He was always about the truth. If he stood for anything, it was the truth. So this is me, telling the truth." The smile was weaker now. "And he was the kind of guy who would have been happy that his legacy could inspire people. So, sure, there will be hate mail, but if there's one kid out there who saw the show and realized that it was okay to be who they were, who realized that there were superheroes out there like me, superheroes who were just like them... well, I know for a fact that Cap would have been proud of that." He looked like he was about to cry. "And I think -- I hope -- he'd have been happy for me, because I finally got something I always wanted. Even if it wasn't real."

"Uh," the host said. "Thank you. We'll be right back after these messages."

They cut to commercial. The video ended.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Tony said to his computer.

There was no AI in this laptop, so it, unhelpfully, was silent.

He'd told everyone. Absolutely everyone. And he'd had no idea.

And then, of course, someone knocked on the door. And Tony didn't need to be a genius to know who it was, because there was really only one possible choice.

He wanted to tell Steve no. He wanted to tell him to go away. But he wasn't actually five years old, and telling Steve to leave wasn't going to make all this disappear.

"You can come in," he said. "It's open."

Steve ducked in and shut the door behind him. He was still wearing the ridiculous costume version of his uniform, and he was hunched in on himself, like he wanted to make himself smaller.

Tony steeled himself for the anger, the betrayal, the disappointment. It was going to hurt, but he could take it. He'd survived this far.

Steve just looked at him. Pale. Shaken. He opened his mouth and shut it again.

"I am so sorry," Tony said. "I really am. I know there's nothing I can do to make it better--"

"You're sorry you're in love with me?" Steve's voice was curious, but roughened; it sounded like he was struggling to speak.

He'd hoped for Steve to phrase that as _sorry you said you were in love with me_. That way they wouldn't have had to talk about now, about what Tony felt now, now that he'd gone and told the entire world.

"I used you." Tony's throat tightened around the words. "I made people act out my own selfish fantasies, about you, and you weren't around to stop me. I made people portray you as... someone you're not, because I was lonely and sad--" his voice rose, mocking-- "and, because, for some reason, I thought you were never going to be able to come back to object to it."

"Tony." Steve's voice was gentle. "I'm not objecting."

Oh, he was getting Steve's pity, and that was maybe even worse. Steve's tolerance. Steve's acceptance. Sure, Steve was an A+ ally -- to everyone, really -- but he was straight.

"Sometimes I wish you would." Tony barely refrained from spitting the words out.

Steve swallowed hard. "I know," he began, "I know I don't always do the best job talking about my feelings. Or picking up on other people's. I'm sorry for that. I wish-- I just wish you'd felt like this was something you could have told me."

"Why," Tony asked, "so you could have let me down gently?"

"Tony," Steve said, with the slightest hint of anger in his voice. A muscle in his jaw twitched.

"So I could have gotten over you a decade ago and moved on?" Tony asked. "Pretty sure knowing you're not interested wasn't enough to stop me."

"Tony--"

"Trust me," Tony said, "there's no way this would ever have gone well--"

"Goddammit, Tony!" Steve snapped. "I'd have said yes! And I still would!"

They looked at each other, in absolute stunned silence. Steve's eyes were perfectly round, and he was still holding out one admonitory hand.

Tony started laughing. He couldn't help it. All the tension and misery had twisted into something else, something that might have been relief. Or joy. He wasn't sure he knew what that felt like, anymore. Maybe it felt like this.

"I want you to know, Rogers," Tony informed him, in between paroxysms of laughter, "that this is -- oh, shit, ahaha, oh God -- this is the absolute worst way anyone has ever asked me out. You're a real catch."

Steve was still staring at him, frozen.

"Don't worry," Tony said, when the laughter had ebbed enough for him to speak. "I still love you, though."

Steve blinked twice, and Tony hoped he hadn't had some kind of stroke.

Tony patted the bed next to him, and Steve stumbled over like a zombie. He sat next to Tony, not touching him.

"When I saw that episode," Steve said, hoarsely, "all I could think was that I wished that that had been us. That it had happened like that. That we hadn't wasted so many years."

"Hey." Tony leaned toward Steve and bumped him gently with his shoulder. He didn't dare take his hand. "Nothing was wasted. I'm glad to have been your friend, no matter what. I always have been."

"And I thought that you were brave, too," Steve continued. "You were so brave, because you'd done it, you'd gone and made this happen, you'd _told someone_ \--"

Tony snorted. "Yeah, I told everyone."

Half of Steve's mouth lifted, a reluctant smile. "And here I was, and I'd never said anything to anyone. Barely even admitted it to myself. Figured it was never going to happen."

"It could," Tony said, quietly. "If you wanted."

"Could it?" There was so much hope in Steve's voice; a bright spark lit up his eyes. And he looked unaccountably nervous too, like this was his one big chance, like it all had to be perfect right now.

"You want me?" Tony asked. "You got me. You've always had me. From day one." And then he grinned. "Hi. I'm Tony Stark, your Avengers benefactor, and also Iron Man, your team co-leader, and I'd really like to kiss you. Welcome to the twenty-first century."

It was never too late to start something new.

Steve chuckled. "Gosh, Mr. Stark! It's so nice to meet you! Thanks so much for rescuing me from the ice and giving me a place to live. And a kiss from a handsome fella like you would be mighty swell."

Their lips met, and Tony could tell that Steve was smiling.

"Swell, huh?" he asked, and Steve laughed.

"Don't you tease me, mister," Steve said. "I don't know any of your newfangled future words yet."

"Not a problem," Tony said. "I'm happy to help out. We're a team."

"Always," Steve agreed.

And whatever happened next on the television show, Tony thought as Steve kissed him again, it couldn't possibly be as good as this.

**Author's Note:**

> [Obligatory Tumblr post](http://sineala.tumblr.com/post/156499916349/fic-unmasked)!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Screenburn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13668447) by [Ironlawyer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironlawyer/pseuds/Ironlawyer)




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